Sunday, May 6, 2018

'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 1: Across the Universe


While adhering to this new review practice, I've decided that it’s high time I get back to talking about the second season of the first Netflix original series I've ever seen:

Voltron: Legendary Defender (Season 2)
Basic Premise
I must admit that Netflix isn’t that huge of a provider of interesting animated TV shows, either original or acquired, to look into for potential reviews, at least to me.  At the very least, there is one original animated series from the popular streaming site for me to frequently check out, and that is Voltron: Legendary Defender.  Thanks to one of my friends inspiring me to check it out, I found a very good way to expand my entertainment horizons and offer a fresh, first-time perspective of a show I’m simply getting to know, and through reviewing the first season a while back, I say it’s pretty great. 
It’s an epic galactic apace battle saga at its core with a distinct cast of characters to follow all throughout with a story that gets bigger with every new challenge they have to face.  The premise itself is quite imaginative in which the fate of the universe rests in the hands of five small robot lions that form one large robot who defends the innocent from an evil empire. The catch is that the pilots of the lions, called Paladins, are mostly inexperienced when it comes to piloting and fighting and need the constant guidance of the two survivors of a planet wiped out by the Galra Empire which adds to the intensity of the mission. 
For the most part, each episode really delivers on an exciting scale you’d expect epic action series to.  It is held back from a lack of character development and the villains all coming off as the same dark and serious character, but every new season offers huge possibilities to expand upon areas previous ones didn’t, and since the first season impressed me significantly, I’m open to see what’s done with Season 2.
A huge reason for excitement on exploring Season 2 is how much the first one left me wanting more.  I mean, our Paladins were forced to go to the Galra Empire headquarters to save their princess leader, Allura.  Although they did rescue her, they got totally overpowered, mostly through overconfidence on Keith’s part, and in Shiro’s case getting hurt both mentally and physically.  Even when they escaped with the help of a mysterious traitor to Galra, things remained intense with the season ending with the whole team separated while going through a corrupted wormhole. 
As a result, we’re left with an exciting point to work off of with much promise for even more excitement.  In order to see exactly what great adventures we’re in for this season, I’ll just sign into my Netflix account, select the show and rejoin the Paladins for a lion’s share of Voltron action.


Now on with the reviews:
Across the Universe








The follow-up to the Season 1 finale features some of our heroes in various escapades after getting separated in the wormhole jump that helped them escape Zarkon. 
There’s a demonstration of how distinct they are with how they approach everything that happens to them in the galaxies they end up in.  They may have a huge responsibility of protecting the entire galaxy, but they’re still human beings with their own day-to-day problems to deal with.  In addition, there are imaginative interpretations of the galaxy from a few places and scenarios. 
Specifically, this episode features Pidge stuck on a trash nebula with no one to help her, Allura and Coran struggling to escape the compromised wormhole, and Keith saving Shiro, who was wounded by Zarkon’s witch wife Haggar, from a pack of strange aliens.  These subplots have different forms of appeal. 
There’s nothing too special about what Pidge gets up to since she just stays where she is until someone finds her.  However, it’s still cute and funny when she befriends a flock of cute fuzzy multi-colored aliens and her interactions with them are very sweet.  As for humor, it stems from her me-time which includes making dummies of her friends and poking fun of their quirks which is honestly a good interpretation of the basic personas and lack of development for some of them.  Pidge does still sees the good in her team when her technical know-how gets an old satellite working which ties into another subplot. 
Allura and Coran’s part is filled with creativity as they directly deal with the effects of the wormhole while piloting their castle ship.  Every time they go through it, they hit a black void that keeps them stuck and affects everyone with the mice becoming different creatures and Coran getting significantly younger, yet for some unexplained reason Allura is unaffected which holds the subplot back.  What's more, Coran’s personality changes with his degrading age are funny, and he surprisingly gets good ideas to get out of the mess the younger he gets, even if they don’t work.  Not to mention, it’s suspenseful when getting younger puts him in danger of disappearing forever. 
Shiro and Keith’s subplot is even more suspenseful though with Shiro stuck in a weakened state in a cramped cave with monstrous aliens outside.  Given how brash he was at Zarkon's base, you might think that Keith wouldn’t be effective as his rescuer, but he impresses through being resourceful and patient as he fends off the aliens and even gets the trust of Shiro’s lion.  This subplot is also the most impactful for ending with Shiro asking Keith to lead the Paladins if something happens to him which gives the story something to look forward to while also starting a nice character arc for Keith. 
Also impactful is an ending scene of the leaders of the Galra Empire, Zarkon and Haggar, setting out to find out who helped Voltron escape their grasp.  We start getting some new layers to the villains’ personalities when one of their own, Commander Prorok, shows genuine fear when the leaders imprison him for letting it happen.  This too sets up an arc where they try to find the traitor, and the fact that their own crew begins to fear them does start to paint the Galra Empire as more than just a seriously evil threat. 
Overall, while this premiere is mainly a showcase of various character moments and creative scenes, it’s a great way to ease us back into adventures with the main cast with distinct and appealing personalities and even a few starts of potentially beneficial arcs. 9/10
The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review will cover the galaxy Lance and Hunk ended up in which is inhabited by seductive mermaids.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, we'll be covering the second episode of Steven Universe Season 2, "Joy Ride."
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If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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